//------------------------------//
// Dragon Quest 
// Story: Sugarcoat Interferes In Pony History 
// by Twinkletail 
//------------------------------//

"I don't act like other dragons?"

The words hit Spike harder than he could have anticipated. Sure, Rarity and Twilight had just finished defending him from Rainbow Dash playfully calling him lame and said that he was perfect the way he was, but that one comment still managed to get under his scales worse than the lame comment.

"Oh, not even close!" Pinkie said, the statement's cheerfulness at about the same level as its unhelpfulness. Sure, he wasn't rude and destructive like the few other dragons he'd met before, but Spike still was a dragon, and being told that he didn't act like one stung.

"But why would you want to, Spike?" Applejack asked. Even that question, asked earnestly by what was arguably the most level-headed of the bunch, didn't feel good. Applejack meant it in the best way possible, he knew that to be true. That didn't make listening to his kind being used as a negative comparison subject any more fun.

"Yes," Rarity agreed. "You've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of!"

"What's that?" Spike asked. His spirits started to rise. Surely Rarity–beautiful, sweet, empathetic Rarity–was in touch with how he was feeling and had the perfect words in mind to cheer him up.

"The cutest widdle chubby cheeks!" Rarity cooed, pinching those very cheeks. "Ooooo!"

Betrayal.

"Cute?!" Spike said, shocked. "Dragons aren't supposed to be cute! Right?" His own hesitation almost frustrated him more than his friends' statements. Did he really know that little about his own kind?

"Oh sweetie, you are turning the most delightful shade of red," Rarity said with a smile. "It is very becoming."

Spike had taken all he could stand. With an annoyed grunt, he got up to leave. Before he could do so, though, he found himself up close and personal with a powder-blue hoof.

"Hold it," Sugarcoat said.

"Sugarcoat?" Spike asked. "Where did you even come from?"

"I've been here the whole time," Sugarcoat said. She made note of her camouflage attire, stepping back against the wall and seeming to vanish entirely before revealing herself once more.

"Whoa," Pinkie said. "She's good."

"I am," Sugarcoat said matter-of-factly. "And you know what isn't good?"

"Garbanzo bean ice cream?" Pinkie asked. "Although I've never had it. I'm just guessing, really. I mean I like garbanzo beans and I like ice cream, but I don't think I'd like them together. Although now that I think about it, if you mash them up and make a paste out of them, they're pretty good. And probably still would be if they were cold! Can I take my answer back?"

Every head in the trench turned to Pinkie. Spike opened his mouth, but closed it just as quickly. There really was nothing he could say to that.

"Does anypony else know what isn't good?" Sugarcoat asked. This time, she didn't bother waiting for a response. "What isn't good is when you have someone who's supposed to be your friend sitting here clearly upset about something, and instead of comforting him, you make fun of him for the very thing he's upset about. Even saying nothing would have been better than what you did."

"But we weren't..." Rarity started.

"Don't," Sugarcoat interrupted. "Just his body language alone should have been enough to show you he was having an identity crisis, but I guess all you were looking at was his widdle chubby cheeks."

Rarity hung her head in shame. The others remained silent, feeling about as low as Rarity did.

"I'm sorry, Spike," Twilight said. "We all are." The others nodded in silent agreement. "Would you like to do some research when we get home on dragons and their history?"

"Sure," Spike replied, beginning to smile again.

"So you've lived in a library for pretty much your whole tenure as Princess Celestia's student and you haven't even tried to look anything on dragons up for him?" Sugarcoat asked. Twilight replied with a glare and nothing more. Spike, on the other hand, walked up to Sugarcoat and gave her a hug.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," Spike said.

"Yeah yeah, don't get too sappy," Sugarcoat responded, giving him a pat on the back. "Somepony's gotta do it."